LAX is never an easy place to have a sane conversation. People jostle you, just as you remember what you wanted to tell the person you’re with. Announcements interrupt the simplest on conversations rendering them totally ridiculous

Starsky was hunting through his pockets, trying to find his ticket. He was also jogging along towards the boarding gate, swinging his hand baggage – a soldier’s kitbag – as he went. Hutch was struggling to keep up, with his partner, and with what Starsky was saying to him.

Passengers are advised that…

“You’re on your own now, “

Jackie Simmons please report to …..

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do”, the big lopsided grin spread across Starsky’s face, as he started to speak again the announcement drowned him out.

Last call for passengers for flight 576 to New York

“Shit, that’s my flight. Where in the hell is my ticket!”

Hutch held up Starsky’s ticket and flipped it at him. “You told me to look after it for you, remember?”
“Well why didn’t ya tell…………”

Flight 576 to New York is now closing, Gate 9, all passenger for flight 576.

“OK already, I’m coming” Starsky almost seemed to take the announcements personally, and he showed signs of getting mad. Hutch put out a calming hand, “Hey; calm down. We’re there, Gate 9, right behind you.”
Starsky glanced over his shoulder and relaxed visibly. Running to the gate (and already sizing up the stewardess taking the ticket stubs) he turned to shout one more warning.

“Oh and Hutch…if you can’t be good, be careful”

Then he was gone.

Hutch couldn’t resist it. He had to wait to be sure that the ‘plane had taken off and that Starsky was on it before he could go back to the car. He bought himself a coffee and settled by the observation window. The ‘plane taxied to the runway, picked up speed and in a scream of turbines took off and started it’s long trip to deliver Starsky to the loving bosom of his family.

Hutch really was on his own now. Starsky would be away for a week, but for Hutch it was back on duty as usual. He couldn’t work out how his partner had managed to accumulate a leave entitlement, hoarding days off (exchanging them for some other guy’s duty) like a squirrel hoarding nuts for the winter. Hutch took every day he was entitled to, when he was entitled to it. He’s asked Starsky about it once and got an enigmatic reply. “I guess I never really got used to the idea, must be the Army’s fault”.

So now Starsky was en route for New York, and Hutch was heading for the precinct.
Starsky would be with his mother, brother, sister and the rest of the family; Hutch had Dobey!

*********************************************************

Dobey was frowning at the telephone when Hutch came into the room.

“He get away Ok?”

“Yes Captain. We had the usual routine, ‘where’s my ticket’, ‘I forgot something’ etc – you know what, Captain? I think Starsky just might be a little scared of flying.”
Dobey looked up abruptly "You think what?” “Well Captain I know he’s afraid of heights, so maybe he was freaked out because he had a window seat.” The thought of Starsky, flying across the country doing his best not to look down made both men laugh.
“I’ll bet he finds a little comfort to take his mind off it “said Dobey, and he amazed Hutch with the lewd gesture that illustrated what he meant.
“Ok, now let’s get serious, Hutchinson. Starsky will be away for a week, who do you want with you?”
“Nobody. I can deal with most things on my own, if I need reinforcements I’ll call for the infantry.”
“Your infantry is in New York.”
“I’ll be ok, Captain.”
“Yes, I guess you will.”

Hutch went back to the squad room, poured himself coffee and sat at his desk. He certainly didn’t need any help with the papers piled up on his desk, not unless someone knew how to make them disappear into thin air. Sighing, he pulled the typewriter toward him and started on the backlog of reports.

The phone on the desk rang and Hutch reached over and punched a button with his pencil before picking it up.

“Hutch?”
“Yes, Huggy, what can I do for you?”
“Starsky get his ‘plane ok?”
“Yea, you know what he’s like, makes all the fuss in the world but he’s always where he has to be spot on time. Another couple of hours and he’ll be back in the bosom of his family ready to be spoiled by his mom for a few days.”
“Good, glad to hear it” Huggy’s voice trailed off for a second then “are you free right now Hutch, I need to see you.”
Hutch picked up the urgency in Huggy’s voice – and the fear.
“Sure, Hug, I’ll be right over.”
Leaving the page flapping out of the typewriter and dropping the pencil as he went, Hutch picked up his jacket and started out for his car. Too late to catch him, Dobey walked into the squad room, seeing that Hutch had gone, he shrugged and went back to his office; as he passed the candy machine, he glanced over his shoulder and took out a coin. As quickly as he could he took the candy bar from the drawer and went back to his office, still glancing over his shoulder – Starsky and Hutch had caught him out so many times it had become a reflex.

Hutch pulled up in front of The Pits and ran down into the bar. Huggy was polishing glasses. He seemed to be concentrating on the job a little too much. He had air just a little too nonchalant too, seeing how he sounded so uptight when he’d called Hutch earlier.
The hairs on the back of Hutch’s neck began to quiver. Something was wrong; where were all the local crazies and no-hopers that should be in here at this hour? His hand went instinctively inside his jacket.
“Don’t even think it.” A woman’s voice. In the booth by the pinball machine. Hutch let his hand drop, then raised both of them slightly.
“As you wish ma’am.”
“Come over here and sit down Blondie. Hey you, bring us both a drink. Scotch Ok with you?”
“I’d rather have a beer”
“Make that a vodka tonic and a beer.”

Sitting in the booth was one of the most striking women Hutch had ever seen. She wasn’t beautiful, but she was attractive. Her auburn hair fall in soft curls to her shoulders framing a heart-shaped face. Big green eyes stared up at him. Her lipstick was a deep scarlet, her mouth was ugly like a slash or a scar. Hutch looked again and saw that there was indeed a scar running from the corner of one nostril down to the right across the upper lip and turning back on itself across the lower lip. There was a small pistol on the table.

“I see you noticed my “war wound””
“Hard not to”
“Aren’t you going to ask me how I got it?”

*******************************************************************

Before Hutch could reply, Huggy brought the drinks. Mystery Woman paid and dismissed him with a flick of the hand. “Go back to your glasses.”

“Ok, how did you get it?”
“I asked too many questions.” She smiled, making the scar even more disfiguring.
“Must have asked them of someone with a mean streak.”
“Clever boy.”

She slipped the pistol back into her purse. “I guess I can trust you. He (she shrugged in Huggy’s direction) does, and that’s enough for me.”

She leaned across the booth and her mouth was close enough to kiss. But Hutch had no desire to kiss it. Something about her didn’t seem right. Starsky would have said she wasn’t kosher. Hutch’s vocabulary ran more to ‘not what she seems’.

Pushing her face even closer, she said, “Aren’t you going to ask me how? Oh I see that you were.”

When she had finished telling Hutch how she got her scar he was still fighting against throwing up.
“Now I’ll tell you why.”
Hutch braced himself mentally and said
“OK, but first I need another beer.”
“I’ll bet you do!”

Two more glasses in front of them, the woman started to tell her story. Her name was Lola. She’d been working the clip joints and the hustle-houses since she was a kid “Fourteen, fifteen, I don’t remember and who cares”. She’d been used and abused by men and some women (“the meanest pimps are the women, sweetie”); A couple of years ago she thought she had her ’big break’ “Vegas, the big time, Caesar’s Palace no less”. So, she packed her little bag and off she went. At first the guy had been nice, “not exactly a gentleman, but nice” and then it turned sour. First he wanted her to “do things” with other men he introduced her to; sometimes just the two of them, sometimes a threesome, sometimes more. And the “things” he wanted her to do were no fun for her!

Hutch was hoping she’d spare him the details. She didn’t. He felt the beer taking what Starsky called “the return ticket”; and fled for the john.

When he got back to the booth, she’d ordered another round of drinks.
“Feeling better baby blue?”
“Yes, fine, it’s just…”
“…you never knew it was possible to do that kind of thing.”
“Something like that.”
“Baby you’ve got a lot to learn. But don’t worry honey, I’m not going to teach you any tricks your girlfriend wouldn’t like you to know.”
She continued her story. One of the men in Vegas was important. He traveled with a body-guard and his car was bullet-proofed. “I think he owned a bit of the place, you know?” she smiled. “He had some very weird ideas in bed too, well not so much in bed, but you know what I mean”.
A nod. “Go on”

“So one day I had to ‘accompany’ him on a visit to business associate. We had a few drinks, I did my number and then I was sent home. The body guard took me home, in the limo. I didn’t think any more about it, you know, I thought ‘OK they wanna talk business and then Jimmy (that’s the body guard) will go bring Mr. Siegelman home.' And when I woke up the next morning, there he was asleep beside me. A couple of days later I saw on the TV as how the mutilated body of a man had been found on the construction site of Mr. S’s new casino. The man had not been identified, but they showed the photo. He was mutilated all right, but I still recognized him.. So I ask Mr. S. if he knows what happens and I got this.” She fingered her mouth? “You want me to give you the gory details one more time?”

“No. Wait a minute did you say ‘Siegelman’?”
“Yes” she said it so softly he hardly heard her. “I guess you’ve heard of him.”

Hutch’s mind raced. Siegel/Siegelman, no it couldn’t be possible. “He’s what forty years old?”
“Yes”.
So the rumors were true. For a couple of years stories had been coming out of Vegas and the streets round LA that Bugsy Siegel’s son was taking up where dear old dad left off the day his business career came to an end when his head exploded by a hail of bullets – sending one eye clear across the room if the story was true. The word also said that Junior made his mean bastard of a father look like the tooth fairy! And this woman was saying that Benny junior was in LA. “Jeez” thought Hutch “this had to happen when I’m on my own!”

He turned to the woman “So why do you want to talk to me?”

“Like I said, Huggy trusts you and I need help. Mr. S. has decided that I know too much. And this time it’s not the lips of my mouth he wants to damage, if you see what I mean”
Hutch didn’t need a diagram.
“What do you want from me?”
“Protection. Help. Get him out of my hair. I can lead him to you, he’s into so many things you must have at least a million reasons to arrest him.”
“Ok; I have to think about this. Where can I reach you?”
“I’ll find you. I’ll leave word with Huggy”
“Ok”
Hutch watched her as she gathered up her things and slid out of the booth. Her long legs were covered by shiny black tights, no… - Hutch saw a flash as she stood up – stockings. As she left she kept one hand in her purse. She slipped out of the bar and into the night.

“Nice friends you have Hug.”
“Well thank you, officer.”

**********************************************************

When Hutch woke the next morning he reached for the ‘phone. Then he put it back, no point in calling Starsky, he wasn’t there.
Hutch went over it all again in his mind. Bugsy Siegel’s son; a woman scared to death, and he was supposed to protect her! Oh boy Hutchinson and Starsky said ‘if you can’t be good be careful’!.

He also said ‘don’t do anything I wouldn’t do’ so maybe I should just think about that for a moment.

He made breakfast and left for the precinct; in the car he continually asked himself not what his partner would do but what he wouldn’t do. The answer came in Starsky’s flat east-coast drawl “man I wouldn’t get involved with that woman if she was the only one left on the planet.” Somehow Hutch knew that the truth was his partner would get involved, but not on a personal level.

Arriving in the squad room, Hutch headed straight to the file drawers. He pulled a couple of files and sat down. When he’d finished reading he picked up the ‘phone and dialed the extension for the records department.

“Bill? Hutch. I need you to look out a couple of antique records for me.” He gave the names and dates and put down the ‘phone. Sweeping the files off the desk he got up and headed for Dobey’s office.

“Don’t you ever knock”
“Sorry captain but this is important”
“So is this. Unidentified female found floating face down in a quarry just outside the city.” Dobey handed Hutch the photo. “Not a pretty sight. They worked her over before they killed her. Looks like it wasn’t the first time she’d had a bad night.”

Hutch took the photos and leafed through them. Corpse of a woman face down in the water. Close up of the damage, she’d been repeatedly cut across the belly and the…….Hutch couldn’t believe that anyone could do a thing like that to a woman, not in the twentieth century, anyway. Then he saw her face. “and it’s not the lips of my mouth”.

Fighting not to be sick, Hutch handed the photos back to Dobey. Even though the captain had been a cop since Hutch was still in diapers, the look on his face told it all.
“I’ve never seen anything like that either. I heard about it, that they used to do it to hookers in Vegas who got out of line. I never thought I’d see that the stories were true.”

“Do we have any leads?”
“Nothing”
“Well I think I do.”
Hutch told Dobey about his evening. When he’d finished the fat man was wiping sweat from his face and running his fingers through his hair.
“I’ll get you a partner”
“No. I’d rather do this alone. Besides, if anything happens to me Starsky can soon get some other guy into shape. No point in taking anyone down with me.”
Dobey didn’t even know how to answer that one. In the space of a few weeks Hutch seemed to have taken on a new attitude to life. The street-innocent was showing signs of getting a little experience; he’d never catch up with his partner, but he might manage to stay alive without him
He watched as Hutch left the room. It even seemed like he walked with more confidence.

****************************************

The records were on his desk when he got back to it. Grabbing the half a stale donut that lingered on Starsky’s desk he took a bite, thought about it and threw the rest at the waste-bin. As usual he missed the target. At least he was better with his gun than he was with a donut!
He decided to take the files home.

His mail was on the doormat. Leafing through the envelopes, sorting junk from bills and final demands, he pulled out a postcard. Brooklyn Bridge. On the back “Bet you’re glad you ain’t here!” in his friend’s characteristic left-handed scrawl. Hutch never could figure out how Starsky managed to get his hand around the pen at the angle he did and still write in a remotely legible way. Starsky must have posted almost as soon as the ‘plane landed, checking he saw that it was mailed at the airport post office. He smiled; what a sense of humor!

A sense of humor was not something the people who had killed Lola knew much about. Unless you took into account her profession and some of the things they’d done to her.

He took out a yellow legal pad and a pencil and started to make notes. What did he have?
In one column he wrote all the names that Lola had given him. He started filling in the second column with information from the files in front of him. He stared at the pad for a minute and leaned back on the sofa. This was not going to be easy; even if he had an idea of where to start (which he didn’t) it would take a while to unravel all the threads. Hutch had the distinct impression that time was not on the agenda.

His ‘phone rang.

“Hutchinson?”
“Yes”

“You met a lady in a bar last night. I have friends who also knew the lady. My friends are very anxious to meet you.”
“Who is this?”
“You’ll find out when the time is right. Now listen because you don’t get another chance.
Be outside the movie theater on eighth at five this evening. Be there alone. Be there without your gun. You won’t need it and if you felt tempted to use it I’m afraid that you might end up in a quarry too. So don’t even think about bringing it! Wait on the sidewalk. Leave your car on the other side of the street. If you behave, we’ll bring you back to your car…in one piece. Do you understand?”

Hutch leaned his head back, raised his eyebrows and sighed.

“Hutchinson; I asked if you understand”
“Yes. I’ll be there.”
“That’s what we like to hear.”

The line went dead. Hutch leaned forward and ran his hands across his face. Now what he gotten into? He was about to play a very dangerous game, and he had no idea what the rules were, he didn’t even know if there were any rules.

He looked at his watch, 4.15, that gave him forty minutes to get across town.
He took his jacket off the hook and reached automatically for his holster; he shook his head, and left it where it was.

*******************************************************************

At exactly five o’clock Hutch was standing in front of the movie house. A car pulled up in front of him. A young black, about 25 years old and built like a pick-up truck hopped out of the passenger door. With a mocking bow, he gestured Hutch to get in.
“Your limo, sir” The black guy slammed Hutch’s door and got into the back.
The driver turned and smiled at Hutch, “ready for a mystery tour sunshine?” she said.
Before he could reply, the man in the back reached forward and pulled Hutch’s head back; as he tied the blindfold he said “It’s so much more fun when it’s a surprise.”

Hutch could feel the car moving from side to side and he had a feeling they were climbing. Must be one of the canyons , but which one?

A sharp turn and then the car came to a halt. His escort helped him out of the car and turned him around.

“Ta da! “he mocked as he took the blindfold off.
They were in the driveway of one of the ‘cantilever houses’ overlooking the Hollywood Valley below. Hutch could see the glimmer of street lights and car lights as day was slowly dissolving into night. His escort pushed him forward. “Inside.”
Out on the deck a man stood silhouetted against the sunset. He was tall and well-built, he had the air of an athlete who didn’t work out enough anymore. Cigarette smoke rose up and gave him a strange halo. He held a champagne glass and on a table next to him stood a second glass and a bottle, already open with a napkin around the neck.
“Officer Hutchinson. Let me offer you a glass of ‘the widow’.”
Before Hutch had a chance to comment his host laughed “I see you are not as familiar with champagne as I am, officer. Veuve Clicquot. One of the finest champagnes in the world – known to its admirers as “the widow” in honor of the wonderful Mrs. Clicquot and, I suppose, her late husband.” He poured a glass as he spoke and handed to Hutch, who took it, sipped and smiled. “When did her husband die?”

“A long time ago. That’s not why you’re here. I believe you met Lola before she was killed.”
“Yes”
“Did she tell you about her past?”
“A little”
“And the men in her life?
“Some of them”
“Obviously she did not mention me.”
Hutch pulled up short, he was wondering just who in the hell this guy was, when he got the answer.
“You see, officer Hutchinson, Lola was my sister. I have a lot of very good reasons to want to find the people – no the man – responsible for her death. And I think you can help me.”
Hutch ran it through his head; this guy came over like a hood and he had vengeance on his mind. In no way could Hutch work with him, but he also realized that it would be difficult to work without him. Somehow Hutch knew that for Lola’s brother the word was “either you’re with me or you’re against me” and there wasn’t an option in between.

Lola’s brother introduced himself as ‘Fred’ and Hutch couldn’t help thinking that the family had a taste in simple names. He listened with more and more attention as Fred told his side of Lola’s sad tale.
They’d grown up on the wrong side of the tracks – literally, a street down behind the City’s station. The kids had to fend for themselves early on and they had always managed to keep going. Lola had fallen in with what Fred described as “the wrong people to know” when she was very young. Fred had stayed in school and managed to get himself through college and lost touch with his sister. From time to time he saw her, getting out of a car, coming out of a hotel, but never to speak to. He understood from the company she was with, and from the hotels and the cars that she was working her way through life as best she could.

Fred was a hot-shot lawyer. He had an office in Century Plaza, a foreign car and a lifestyle to match. If Starsky and Hutch were content with a Coors, it was evident that Fred preferred “the widow” as a favorite thirst quencher. Hutch sensed that although Fred had everything money could buy, he lacked something basic in is life – happiness.
This is one unhappy man thought Hutch as Fred refilled the glasses. He’s also not everything he says he is. The blonde detective couldn’t get out of his mind the way the invitation to cocktails had been delivered.
Fred seemed blessed with the gift of mind-reading (tough for a witness under cross-examination Hutch thought):
“You’re wondering about the escort service, aren’t you?”
Hutch nodded.
“I work for some very powerful people. I rarely go into the courts, Officer Hutchinson, many of my clients prefer, shall we say, out-of-court settlements. Unfortunately some of these settlements are a little messy. Right now one of my clients is very interested in meeting the people who killed my sister. So am I. Fortunately for those who killed Lola, and, perhaps for you, I would like to get to them first. You see with me (and with your help) they at least get a trial. If my clients find them before we do, Detective, there is going to be a great deal of blood shed. And the people who bleed will take a long time dying, if you see what I mean.”

Hutch was taking it all in. Somewhere along the line he was being set up. Either Fred was lying or he was crazy. Whichever the case, Hutch did not like the idea of playing piggy in the middle with these players.

“Are you going to give me their names?”
“No. That would be too simple, wouldn’t it? No Officer Hutchinson I want you to continue with your investigation? And report to me every day before you report to anybody else.”
“I have a duty to report to my Captain”
“Yes, and he has a duty to make out his reports. That might not be a very good thing.”
“Are you implying…”
“I’m not implying anything. But I am telling you to be very careful who you speak to. Shall we say that walls sometimes have ears.”

Fred beckoned to the “black truck”, he walked over to Hutch and held out the bandanna

“I don’t think that is necessary now, Officer Hutchinson must know where we are, and besides, he needs to know the route to come and make his report. Oh yes, Hutchinson, I expect you to report to me in person, every evening around 8pm. Do not in any circumstances come to my office. Is that clear?”
Hutch nodded. “I assume I at least get a lift home.”
“Someone will return you to your car. We’ll see each other tomorrow, Hutchinson.”

On the drive back to his car, Hutch tried to pump the driver for an insight into what was going on. Either the black guy was playing dumb, or he was dumb, whatever the case his answers gave no indication that he had any more idea of what was going down that did Hutch.

They pulled up in front of the movie theater. The early evening crowd was coming out and the sidewalk full of people. As he walked away from the car Hutch thought of one more thing, but when he turned the car melted into the street traffic. He shrugged and ran across the road, tracing a crazy route between the cars that didn’t make any effort to stop for that rare bird in LA, a pedestrian.
Starting up, Hutch headed home, changing his mind he pulled into a side street, made a couple of turns and arrived in front of The Pits.

Huggy was behind the bar, back turned to the door, moaning as usual about the staff, the weather, the customers and anything else he could think of. Hutch called over “Hey Huggy!” As Huggy turned Hutch saw the real reason for his friend’s evil mood. Huggy’s left eye was almost closed. He had a Band-Aid on his cheek and another across the bridge of his nose. “I’m not sure I want to see you right now.”
“Looks like you need to talk to me, whether you want to or not. What does the other guy look like?”
“Oh he walked away with a couple of sore knuckles and nothing else.”
“And, naturally, you have no idea who he was.”
“Naturally”.
“Maybe if you came to the office you might see a photo to jog your memory.”
“OK, clever cop. I saw his face and I know who he is, but I don’t think my health insurance will cover me if I tell you any more.”
“So change insurance company. Huggy I need help here. I’m into something so big I don’t even know where to start. Any help is welcome.”
“Come back later. No better still, I’ll come over to your place when I leave here. About 2 o’clock OK?”
Hutch resigned himself to a long night and sighed. “OK. See you later. Be careful”

***********************************************************

The cantilever house was dark when Hutch pulled into the driveway the next evening. Nobody home, that suited him only too much because he had absolutely nothing to report.
He was turning the car when the lights of another car appeared at the gateway. He killed his lights and the engine and waited. The car continued on past, it must have been a trick of the light with the turns in the road.
Hutch restarted his car and headed home. He couldn’t help wondering where Fred could be.
The answer was waiting outside his house. ‘Black Truck’ sat in his car, examining his fingernails, with a degree of interest worthy of a bored receptionist in a quiet office building.
He hardly showed sign that he had seen Hutch arrive. The cop walked to his house, glanced over at the car, where the driver was now using his teeth to finish his manicure. There was a light on.
Opening the door carefully, Hutch was ready to draw his gun if he had to.
He didn’t have to.
Fred was comfortably installed on the sofa and he had already opened the champagne.
“I’m sorry that you had an unnecessary journey, but the canyons are beautiful at this time of the evening aren’t they?”
“I’ve seen worse.”
“I have reason to believe that my house is being watched.”
“I saw no evidence”
“These people are very efficient, Hutchinson, they don’t always use police methods.”
“Neither do I!”
Fred leaned back on the sofa and laughed. “I think I might be glad to hear that.”
“Now take off your jacket and that ridiculous piece of hardware and join me for a drink. I have some more information for you.”

Hutch had never thought of his Magnum as a “ridiculous piece of hardware” before, and he wasn’t sure that he was going to now. He took off his jacket and holster and shoved back his sleeves as he sat down. Reaching for the glass that was waiting for him, he raised it in a salute to Fred’s health and took a sip.
“You have an interesting taste in interior decoration Officer Hutchinson. Those candles are from India unless I’m mistaken. I see you’re a musician too” Fred gestured to the piano standing against the far wall.”

“I know my way around the keyboard.”

“Business. My clients are beginning to get excited; one might say they can smell blood.
We have good reason to think that one of Lola’s killers is back in town after taking a short break in Nevada. He’s been seen at one of you favorite watering holes, I believe it is called The Pits, the bartender…“
Hutch cut in “Huggy Bear, his name is Huggy Bear….”
“…as I was saying, the bartender, Huggy, was unwilling to tell him about Lola’s last date.”
“So that’s what hit him”
(Hutch kept the next remark to himself "now what has he gotten himself into!”)
“I’m afraid so. Unfortunately the gentleman in question does not give second chances. When he returns to see Mr. Bear, he will expect an answer and he will not hesitate to use more persuasive methods to get them. I believe you have seen the autopsy report on my sister. I don’t think I need to paint any pictures for you.”

Before Hutch had the chance to answer, or to ask any questions, Fred was gone.
As the door closed behind him, Hutch saw, or thought he saw, the silhouette of a man waiting the other side of the canal, waiting and watching the house.

****************************************

Five minutes later there was a tap on the door. Hutch killed the lamps and grabbed his gun. Whoever had been across the canal was here now. Cautiously, like a kid playing hide and seek in a house he didn’t know, Hutch opened the door.
“Well that’s a great welcome for a friend in need”. Huggy stepped into the room as he spoke. The band-aids were gone, showing a couple of cuts and grazes but the injured eye had puffed up even more. Hutch couldn’t help suppressing the question in his mind, what do you call an eye like that on a face that is already black. He restrained himself from asking. Huggy could be sensitive at times, and Hutch could never remember whether the right word was “black” or “colored” or what.

He followed Huggy into the room and they both sat down.
“Can I get you something?”
“A beer.”
“Hutch brought the beers over then leaned forward and asked Huggy quietly
“What is going on Huggy. There’s something you’re not telling me, and it’s likely to kill you.”
“Likely to kill me if I do and kill me if I don’t” his friend replied with a hangdog look on his usually animated face.
Hutch thought for a moment then turned to Huggy
“Listen, I want you to tell me everything you know. Ok Huggy? Everything.”

Huggy hesitated. It seemed like an hour, it was only a couple of seconds. He drank slowly from the bottle in his hand.
“Ok everything I know, for what it’s worth.
Lola and her brother Fred were always bad news; one of those chicks that seemed to drag bad luck around with her. You know what I mean, if she went with a guy he was sure to hit the wall somewhere along the line. In a way she got lucky when she went to Vegas, after all she was Benny junior’s woman.”

“What about Fred?”

“Oh Fred. Fronts up like Mr. Goodlaw. Smart suit and tie etc. but he’s as mean as the people he works for. And he burns the candle both ends.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, dear Hutch, that you do not want to believe a word that guy tells you. Especially if he tells you he loved his sister. He hated her. Resented how she got to the money easily, taking it lying down so to speak; while he had to work his way through college. It was one of his jobs that led him to the company he keeps and led Lola to Benny.”

Hutch put his hand to his forehead in a gesture that signaled how confused he was.

“Wait a minute Huggy. Are you telling me that Fred set Lola up with Benny?”

“Hey, you finally got there!”

One thing Hutch was sure of. Huggy couldn’t stay here. He also knew that Huggy couldn’t go back to his place either.

“I’m going to take you someplace safe to stay.”

“Where, a police cell?”

“No, well not a cell anyway. Go wait in the car. Leave by the back. I’ll join you in a minute.”
As Huggy slipped out of the house, Hutch went over to the jars on the shelf in the kitchen, he took one down and turned it upside down and pocketed the contents.

********************************************************

Two turns after leaving his house, Hutch had the distinct feeling that they were not the only ones driving this route. He checked the mirrors and caught the lights of a car keeping a constant distance behind him. Two more quick turns and the other car was still there. The guy was using his parking lights only. He didn’t want to be noticed.
“That’s what he thinks” Hutch said to himself grimly. “For once I wish this car was as well-tuned as the Torino.”

“Ok Huggy, hold on, time for a roller coaster ride.”

“Just what I was hoping for, a trip to the fairground”. Huggy managed a wan smile.

Hutch pushed the car to its limits as he turned sharply into a road leading into the canyons. The road started to climb, taxing his car’s tired engine to its limits. The other car was still behind him. Continuing up into the canyons and the passing the lush lawns hissing with the activity of the irrigation systems that the rich could offer themselves to be surrounded by green even in the height of a California heat-wave, Hutch threw another look in the mirror. Still there and just slightly closer. Not close enough to be identified, but enough to signal “yes I’m following you.”

Hutch had two possibilities. One : he made for Fred’s house and found out whether the guy in the car behind was one of the lawyer’s friends. Two : he found a place to stop and turned the tables.
The first option did not seem right so he started looking out for a good spot to play highwayman. About a half-mile further up the road dropped slightly and took a long turn to the left. On one side Hutch could see the lights of LA panning out to the horizon. On the other side a gulley. Just as he came out of the turn he saw it. A perfect spot to pull of the road. Killing the lights he coasted onto the dirt at the side of the road.
“Get out Huggy, go hide behind a tree or a rock. If anything happens to me get yourself to Dobey, somehow or another and tell him everything.”
Huggy sat tight.
“Huggy, get out of the car.”
“No. I’m staying with you”
“Huggy get out, I won’t ask you again.”
“NO”
Hutch got out of the car and walked around to the passenger door. Opening it he pulled Huggy out by the sleeve and pushed him into the trees. “Just stay out of sight Hug, please”

Huggy disappeared into the darkness just as the beam of lights showed at the curve in the road.
Hutch drew his gun, took a deep breath and ran out to the middle of the road. Legs braced he held the gun steadily in front of him. The car stopped six inches from the toe of his right boot.

The driver turned the lights on, full beam. For a split second Hutch was blinded. In the time it took him to raise a protective arm in front of his eyes, he heard a door slam and footsteps coming nearer.

“Put the gun down, Hutchinson”

The voice was unfamiliar, with an undertone of hoodlum.
Hutch decided that the best thing to do was comply.
As his eyes accommodated to the light Hutch made out the figure of a man about five foot six, thickset like an amateur wrestler. He was wearing a suit that made Fred’s clothes look like they came from the thrift shop.

“I believe that you are interested in the late and lovely Lola. Perhaps I can help you. My name is Benny Siegal.”

Siegal turned to the car : “Go find the other one, Joey. He can’t be far.”

Hutch did a double take when he saw ‘Black Truck’ getting out of the car. Two minutes later, he reappeared from the wood, walking with Huggy, both men were talking in low voices and smiling.

“Oh great” thought Hutch, “Huggy’s in with them after all.”

*********************************************

Joey (‘Black Truck’) Williams had known Huggy since they were kids. They’d grown up on the same block. Joey had never bothered much with school and had found himself a job with the mob before he was old enough to legally drive the getaway cars he handled with distinction. He had also learned to use his not inconsiderable bulk in a way that had brought him to Benny junior’s attention very quickly.

The four men were sitting in Siegal’s car. Joey was at the wheel and they were heading on up the canyon road. They drove on until Joey pulled onto an observation point and stopped.
Below them LA was slowly making the journey from night into day. The sky was a mixture of blue and gray as the early morning mists from the coast hit the fog trapped in the Valley. The street lights were fading as the rising sun started to replace them.

“One of the most beautiful moments in the day” Benny said appreciatively. “I come here frequently, just to watch it. It’s never the same. We don’t have this in Nevada.”
As he spoke he lit a cigarette. Gesturing the pack toward Hutch and getting a refusal he offered it to Huggy who took a cigarette with a smile.

“I owe you an apology Huggy, my friend was a little overenthusiastic when he visited you.”
“I’ll live”
“Of course you will. If I had intended otherwise I would have sent Joey too.” Benny’s voice had a cold edge to it. Like many psychopaths he showed little real emotion when he spoke. His eyes kept the same bland expression even when his mouth curved in the hint of a smile, just baring his teeth. Hutch thought of Starsky’s description of one of his Uncle Al’s ‘colleagues’ “He smiles from the teeth out.”

“What about me, don’t you owe me an apology too?”
“You, Officer? Now why on earth should I apologize to you? Oh I see, you feel perhaps that I haven’t been exactly straight with you. Oh no, Officer Hutchinson, I do not owe you an explanation. Not unless you’re too dumb to work it out. You have worked it out, haven’t you?”

Being honest with himself, Hutch had to say that he did not really understand much of what was going on. He wasn’t going to let Siegal know. He didn’t have to make any such admission because Siegal was speaking again.

“Let me sum up. I may be many things Hutchinson – like father like son – but I am not a man who kills or mutilates the woman he marries.”

Hutch sat up straight. “You and Lola were married?”

“Yes, the certificate is registered in Ventura County.”

Hutch ran the information through his head one more time. If Benny and Lola were married, how come she had told the story in such a way as to point the finger at her husband? And what was Fred doing in all this? As far as Hutch was concerned it made no sense at all.

Before Hutch could say anything else, Joey started the car again. They went back to Hutch’s car.
“Get out Hutchinson. You too, Huggy. I’m sure you will bring this sad tale to its proper end.”

*******************************************************

“Huggy, what the hell…”

“I’m sorry Hutch, I didn’t want them to play it that way. Dammit I certainly didn’t want them to use me an example of what they are capable of.”

“I still think we need to put you somewhere safe. You can’t go to the bar.”
“I’m not the only one who needs to find a hiding place.”
“I have to work. You need to sleep.”

As Hutch turned into the pleasant side-street, Huggy realized where he was going to hide. “Are you sure that this is a good idea?”
“Where better, Starsky’s on the other side of the country, he’s not involved in this, they may not even know he exists.”
The two of them ran up the steps leading to Starsky’s door. Hutch took the key out of his pocket and let them in.
“Shower and sleep, Huggy. I’ll be by later on, Ok?”
Huggy was already on the way to the bathroom. Hutch let himself out, but before he left he called back over his shoulder “Just to be safe, lock the door and only answer the ‘phone if it rings twice and stops the first time.”

He went back to his car, and ran his hand over his face. He needed a shave. He needed a shower. He needed his bed. He didn’t have time to offer himself any of those luxuries right now.

Once at the precinct, Hutch headed straight for Dobey’s office.

The Captain was sitting behind his desk. Any files he might have been reading were covered by a tray holding a giant hotdog, a serving of French fries, a giant shake and a slice of apple pie.
“See you haven’t lost you appetite.”
“Sit down and tell me what you have.”

Hutch slumped in the chair in front of the desk. Although Dobey’s choice of breakfast was not to his taste, it made him hungry to see it.

“What do I have? Not much. Well maybe more than I think, but I just don’t know how to get it straight in my mind.”
“Two heads are better than one and I may not think like Starsky but I can think with you.”
“Ok. One : Lola was murdered. She had been mutilated once before because she saw too much in Vegas. She led me to believe that Benny Siegal junior ordered the mutilation”

“Benny Siegal junior! I thought that was a fantasy dreamed up by the Enquirer on a quiet weekend.”

“So did I Captain. But believe me he exists! I spoke with him in his car. He’s real enough.”

“Go on.”

“Two : Lola’s brother is a shyster lawyer who hides behind a sleek practice but really works for the mob. He told me that Siegal killed his sister. He wanted me to find Siegal and bring him to justice. I was supposed to keep him up to date last evening. When I went by his place, he wasn’t there.
Three : Huggy , they used him as bait to get to me. I don’t think he’s in it any more than that. That’s as far as it goes, Captain.”

“I’m going to call the Vegas police see if they know anything about Siegal. You go home and get some sleep, you can’t …………”
“No, Captain, I’ve got to get this thing finished. Sleep can wait.” He left the office and went into the squad room. The coffee pot was empty so he decided to brave the machine in the hallway. Returning to his desk he sat and stared at the gray-brown liquid in the goblet and pulled a face; he put the paper cup on the other side of his desk (a week later, Starsky would throw it into the trashcan in disgust).

The ‘phone rang. “Hutchinson.” It was the Vegas police. “Yes that’s right, Benny Siegal junior. What? Oh about five six, built like a college wrestler…forty, forty five I guess.” As he listened to the voice at the other end of the line Hutch’s face betrayed his confusion. “What do you mean ‘no such guy’ I spoke to him I know he’s………….who? Yes. Yes I heard you. Ok run this one for me. Tall, about six foot one, well built, elegant about thirty five. Yea, thanks, well as soon as you can.”
Putting down the ‘phone, Hutch stared at it as if it had bitten him. “Back to square one Hutchinson” he told himself.

**********************************************************

The wedding party was in full swing. Starsky was sitting to one side of the main table watching. His arms ached from lifting his sister and brother-in-law high above the dancers. His feet ached from being stuffed into unfamiliar shoes. His mother turned a tear-smudged face and smiled at him. “I’m so happy, he’s a fine young man. May they have as many children and as much happiness as….” She trailed off.
“Mom, you had a good marriage, remember the good times. Ok?”
“Always so wise, my Davey. So wise and yet you still haven’t found a nice girl you can bring home and show to your momma.”
Starsky looked at her with a twinkle in his eye. “Oh sure, I earn so much every time I have a date I’m gonna fly her to New York!”
“That’s not what I mean. You’re not so young any more, you have to think of your future.”
“I do ma, believe me I do.”

Starsky looked back at the dancers. The older generation had exhausted all the songs from the ‘Old Country’ and worn themselves out with traditional dancing. Now the younger set was dancing to the latest disco hits.

Starsky realized that he was drunk. Not drunk enough to notice that his brother Nicky had disappeared. While his mother continued her monologue about nice girls, Starsky scanned the room.
Nicky had gone and so had one or two others. “Well,” he thought to himself, “I’m not my brother’s keeper. He’s probably out tom-catting some girl who has to be home when her parents are.” He smiled to himself.

His mother was back, this time with a one of her cronies in tow. “Elsa, I want you to meet my eldest boy, Davey. He lives in California for the moment.” Something in the way she emphasized the last three words rang alarms in Starsky’s head. “He has a good job, but I’m sure it would be easy enough to transfer to back home when he’s ready.”
“OK, ma. Stop the yenta routine willya. I’m not ready for it. OK?”
“Davey darling, I only meant….” She had that hurt look on her face that only a mother can produce”
“I’m sorry mom, I didn’t mean to snap, but you have to accept that my life is in LA now. Maybe one day I’ll find the girl of your dreams – and one I like too. If I do I promise, we’ll come back east to do the deed. Happy? Now why don’t you start matchmaking Nicky?”

His mother walked back to the knot of friends gossiping about what everyone was wearing, who said what etc. etc.

A hand tapped his shoulder. It was ‘Uncle‘ Joe Durniak. Starsky hadn’t seen him since…since Joe paid for his father’s funeral.
“So how are you little Davey. I hear you’re a cop on the west coast. Following your father after all. That’s good, Davey, that’s good, he’d be proud of you. You might not believe me, but I’m proud of you too.”
“Hi Joe. I guess momma boasts, huh?”
“Not just your momma Davey. I hear things from my contacts out there. I hear good things about you. You have a partner that you trust too, that’s good, that’s very good, in this world you need someone you can trust. Especially when you’re in too deep.”
Starsky had the feeling that Joe was trying to tell him something. He looked up sharply, too sharply, the room span for a second. “Let’s go outside and talk, Joe, this place is getting a little stuffy, what with the smoke and all”
Joe looked at this cigar, “Sorry “
“No that’s ok. I just need a little air.”

Joe led Starsky out to the hotel kitchen’s yard.
“Are you trying to tell me something, Joe?”
“Your friend back home is getting himself in too deep with the kind of people even I wouldn’t recommend as company.”
“Meaning?”
“There are still some people who would be only too happy to see you put out of the game, Davey. They found out where you are and what you do and who you do it with. You might say that now the cat is away the mice are beginning to play – and the purpose of their game is to catch the cat.”
Starsky thought for a moment. His deep blue eyes seemed to focus back into his mind. He rearranged his face in a smile and said “Sounds like I’d better catch the next flight.”
“And break your momma’s heart? No young man, you stay here until all the celebrating is over and your momma has gotten used to her not having her little girl at home any more. You won’t do anything to help, in fact, you might just be in the way. Let your blond friend handle it, if he can – if he can’t you’ll pick up the pieces when you get home. Now let’s go back inside and enjoy the party.”
“Ok, Joe, if you think that’s the right thing to so. But I want to know more.”
“Tomorrow. Come to my office around twelve, we’ll have little lunch in your favorite deli and I’ll tell you all I know.”
The two of them went back. Starsky spotted a pretty cousin (too closely related to fulfill his mother’s dreams) and made his mom happy by dancing with the girl for the rest of the evening. Balancing his cousin against his hip, he glided her around the floor. His mind was a long way from where his body was. He sighed. “Penny for them?” his cousin looked straight into his eyes as though she could see how far away he was. “No, it’s too complicated. I guess they’re right when they say you should never try to go back.”

***************************************************************

LA awoke to a day of pouring rain. Hutch switched on the radio while he dressed. The Mamas and the Papas were in full harmony ‘…it never rains in southern California…it pours, baby it pours…’.
The newscaster’s voice stopped him in his tracks “….the body was found in a canyon not far from the victim’s house…”
Hutch didn’t bother to switch off the radio, grabbing a sneaker and pulling it on as he made his way across the room, he took his jacket and holster and slipped them over his shoulders on the way out to the car.
Once in the squad room, Hutch opened the file that was waiting on his desk. He was still staring at it when Dobey shouted through the open office door “I thought you’d never get here. Come in my office, I’ve got more here.”

The autopsy report lay on Dobey’s desk. Death by one bullet in the mouth, after the victim had been mutilated in ways that made Hutch cross his legs and wince.
“Same pattern as for the woman. Looks like the same people did it.” Dobey shoved the photo across to Hutch as he spoke.
Hutch glanced at the photo, then stared at it.
“Siegal, or whatever his name is”
“I called Vegas just now. They have a definite ID on this man. Louis Manetti. Small time blackmailer. It seems he had a hold on one of the mob’s lawyers.”

Things were beginning to come together in Hutch’s mind. Siegal was really Manetti, and Fred was his blackmail victim. So far, so good. But where did Lola come into it all?

“I have to go see Huggy,” he said and was out of the office before Dobey could answer.

Hutch let himself into Starsky’s house.
“Holy shit!”
The usually neat living room was turned upside down and inside out. Kitchen cabinet doors hung every which way. The couch had been upturned, the pillows thrown across the room.
Starsky’s precious record collection was scattered around the room.
Hutch went cautiously into the bedroom. Huggy was nowhere to be seen. No sign of a struggle though. The bed had been carefully arranged. On the pillow was a dog’s head, the eyes gouged out and with an envelope pinned to its ear. Hutch took the envelope between his fingertips and opened it carefully. “Some people see too much”

He grabbed the ‘phone and dialed “This is Hutchinson I want a lab team over at…” as he gave the address, he continued to scan the room. “Hutch, isn’t that Starsky’s address?”
“Yes, just get them here will you.”

No sooner had Hutch put the ‘phone back on its hook on the wall, than it rang.
“Hutch?
“Huggy, where in the hell are you?”
“I’m at the bar. Look I’m ok, and I know a whole lot more about this than I did before.
This is one bad story Hutch, and it goes back a long way further than you or I can ever understand.”
“I’ll be over as soon as the lab team gets here.”

******************************************************************

The Pits was filling up with the usual crowd of lunchtime boozers.
Hutch made his way over to the bar where Huggy was serving a glass to a hooker dressed like Little Orphan Annie. Trying not to fall over her dog, Hutch took a seat on a bar stool and ordered a beer.

Serving Hutch gave Huggy an excuse to be seen talking to the cop – not that half the clients in the place didn’t know that Hutch was a friend.
“Lola was a bait and she caught the wrong fish.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Huggy’s eyes rolled wide “It means that they are fishing for a cop, and you landed up in their net by accident.”

Huggy started around the bar, and led Hutch over to a booth. “We need to talk where others can’t hear too much.”

“It seems that Mr. Siegal worked for a boss back in the east, someone who likes to keep an eye on our curly-haired friend. This person takes a protective interest in a boy from his neighborhood, wherever that boy lives. Seems he heard that someone wanted to hurt Starsky, so he sent ‘Siegal’ out to find out what was going on. If any one from the Mob round here asked, ‘Siegal’…..”
Hutch cut in “His name was Manetti”
“Yea, so as I was saying, if anyone wanted know what he was doing in LA, Manetti told them he had a hold on ‘Fred’ and was running a pressure job.”
“So who is ‘Fred’?”
Well he ain’t Lola’s grieving brother, that’s for sure. About the only genuine thing about that guy is his law degree.”
“So who is he?
“He’s a hit man, Hutch, a very very dangerous hit man. They say he’s the best in the world. He moves with all the international set, you know, Sinatra today and the Shah tomorrow. His name is Callendar. They say that he has a base in every high-end address in the book. “
“Who is he working for?”
“The Mob, New Jersey branch. It would seem that they want to eliminate the eye witness to a murder that happened out east a long time ago. The eye witness was kid. Now he’s grown up and they’ve traced him out here.”

‘I was fourteen years old, Hutch. ‘

“Do you know where I can find Callendar now?”

“No-one wants to tell me anything. The guy is big trouble. He kills professionally, and he takes pleasure in his work. One thing, though, the word is that he did not kill Manetti and Lola, it adds up, it’s not his style of doing things, his targets usually get one bullet; point blank. In fact, my sources tell me that Callendar is pretty pissed with the people who did do the killing – says his reputation is damaged. I’ll see if I can call in a few favors, Hutch, but I’m not promising any more than that.”

Hutch left the bar faster than he had come in. Once in the car, he took the handset and called into dispatch. “This is Zebra 3, I need a direct patch to Dobey.”
The Captain’s voice came on immediately.
“What do you have?”
“Maybe nothing, maybe a lot. I now know who Manetti was working for – and you could say he was on our side. I also know the identity of the guy who calls himself Fred. Captain, his name is Callendar, and he’s…”
“I know who he is. He’s been on the files since before you left High School. If he’s in town, somebody is in big trouble.”
“The somebody he’s after isn’t in town Captain.”
“How in the hell do you know that”
“Because I put him on the ‘plane. He’s safe in the bosom of his family, getting his sister married.”
“Starsky? Why in the world…….”
“It’s a long story, Captain, I’ll tell it to you when I’ve stopped Callendar.”

Hutch cruised the beat, permanently on the lookout for a snitch who might know something. Passing in front of a row of sleazy massage parlors and flop-houses he saw a movement in an alley. He stopped the car and got out. Walking up ahead of him was one of his favorite people, Fat Rolly, fence, informer and all time lard ass.
“Hey Rolly, you trying to avoid me?”
“I don’t know anything about…”
“About what Rolly, I haven’t asked you yet.”
“Not here, ok? Come see me in my office in a half hour?”
“Now Rolly, and here, or down at the station.”
Rolly’s face lit up. “That’s the best idea Hutch, like that I’ll feel safe. Arrest me, I’ll go back to the street and you can do it in front of everyone.”
“What?”
“Listen, if I’m seen talking to you, I’m dead. But if you arrest me, no-one knows any better.”

Rolly’s weird logic appealed so Hutch waited while the fat man waddled out onto the open sidewalk. Giving him a fifty yard start, Hutch came out running, gun in hand (but with the safety still in place.) : “Police, stop!”
Rolly froze and allowed Hutch to swing him against the car, pull his wrists behind his back and cuff him, all the while whining “you got nothing on me.”

*******************************************************

Sitting comfortably in Dobey’s office and enjoying a donut, Rolly told Hutch and the captain all he knew.

Most of it they also knew, but they pricked up their ears when Rolly mentioned that he knew where Callendar was staying. The cantilever house had been “borrowed”. (Later on a check to the local police revealed that the owner had reported a break-in but that nothing was out of place except two champagne glasses). Callendar was staying in Beverly Hills, the guest of ****** ***** star of stage, screen and gossip column, and a close friend of more than one Mafia boss. “The security at the house is tight, but even security guards take a leak sometimes.”

Leaving Rolly and the captain both indulging in their favorite sport – competitive donut disposal – Hutch went out to his desk. He’d lived in the city for almost six years now and he still hadn’t taken the Homes of the Stars tour. No time like the present, he thought and set off home to change into something more appropriate for his afternoon out.

Two hours later Hutch was waiting in line with all the other out-of-town rubber-neckers and star-struck newcomers to Tinseltown. Dressed in a loud Hawaiian shirt and even louder plaid knee-length shorts, bottomed out with bright green socks and open sandals, Hutch felt he fitted in well with the crowd. Around his neck he had two camera cases, one permanently open, revealing an old-fashioned box camera, the other a zippered pouch – with a small pistol inside.

“Ok folks, all aboard. Today you are going to see stars.” The bus started off, the guide droning the same stories she told on every trip, how if they were lucky they might see Lucy walking her dog, and how nice Jimmie Stewart is when visitors pass by. “Over there is the Pickfair, now you all know who lived there don’t you?” “Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks” they chorused like kids on a school field trip.
The tour continued around the wide tree-lined avenues and boulevards of Beverley Hills.
“Ok folks, photo stop. Over there you can see Bing Crosby mowing his lawn” Twenty-four star-crazed tourists poured out of the bus, cameras aimed at the screen star mowing his lawn. “Gee Abner” said one woman” you’d think with all his money he’d employ a gardener”; but she clicked away all the same.
The twenty-fifth passenger did not rejoin the tour, and the guide didn’t seem to notice.
Hutch made his way along the perimeter of the big colonial style house across the road from the Crosby place. Using the fence as cover he made his way to the gate. The man at the gate looked mean, the dog beside him looked meaner still.
“No visitors, buddy.”
“Oh what, oh no I don’t want to visit. You see I hoped maybe you had a ‘phone in your little hut here. “ Hutch’s accent was pure corn – mid-western corn. “See I was with that little tour party and would you know it, while they were all taking photos of that nice man, I just had to…well you know…so I slipped in behind those trees over there, and when I came back out, the bus had up’n’gone without me. So I hope, like I said, that you might have a ‘phone so’s I can call me a taxi-cab and get back to my hotel before the little wife notices I’m gone. Oh she’s gonna be mad at me not getting photos of all the Stars’ Homes but……………”
“Enough! Stay where I can see you.”
The guard backed into the gate house, and without taking his eyes of Hutch spoke into a walkie-talkie. “Got a hick out here got himself left behind by a tour bus, wants to ‘phone for a cab.” The handset crackled. “Ok”. The guard came back and pressed a button. The gate slid to one side and Hutch stepped in, still grinning like an idiot.
Coming up alongside the guard, Hutch slipped the pistol out of its pouch and held it close the guy’s ribs. “Now” he said, still in character, “ this little pistol is pointing right between your ribs, ain’t nothing to stop a bullet going into your heart; so you keep the dog on its leash and you and I are going to stroll up to the house like nothing is wrong. Because if you make one little sign to your buddies that there’s a problem, I’m going to have to pull the trigger.”

Reaching the house, Hutch reminded his hostage once more of the situation. ”I need to get inside and meet your boss’s house guest and you are going to make it smooth as silk. Am I clear?”
The guard nodded.
“Ok, in we go.”

The door opened into a marble-floored hall. A magnificent staircase climbed around a low-hanging pure crystal chandelier. Their footsteps echoed as the two men walked across to a double mahogany door on the other side. The guard went first (Hutch’s pistol lodged between his ribs, just left of his spine). ‘Fred’ was sitting in a wing chair reading the paper. Without looking up he asked “What?”

“I wonder if I could use your ‘phone” Hutch was still the corn-poke from the wheat belt.
“See I…”
Callendar stood up. “How in the hell… “ Then he saw just how close Hutch was standing behind the guard and guessed the rest.

Hutch didn’t miss a beat, but he dropped his accent, and continued “…see I need to use a ‘phone to call in the reinforcements waiting just outside the gate.”
Callendar moved his right hand toward the inside of his jacket . Hutch pushed the guard to one side, hard. Hard enough for him to fall over a small table and hit his head on the fire surround, saving Hutch the trouble of having to disable him any other way. Lifting the gun, Hutch was just in time to see Callendar draw his, a Magnum armed with a silencer, it could do a lot of damage with very little noise.
Hutch fired first.
Callendar dropped his gun and his left hand went to his right thigh. He fell back in the chair.
Hutch picked up the ‘phone and asked for the necessary back-up. Then he sat down in the chair opposite his would-be assailant.
“What are your friends out east going to say when they find out you fucked up?”
No reply.
“I mean, you were sent to deal with a problem and you didn’t. I guess your price is going to drop for a while. When did you realize that you’d got the wrong guy?”
“What do you mean, the wrong guy?”
“You were sent to deal with Starsky, I’m Hutch.”
“I didn’t get the wrong guy. I had to get you out of the way first.
I was going to deal with you and then go after him. Only thing that surprised me was he didn’t come with you right from the start.”
“He isn’t here.”
Callendar’s face ran the range from surprise to anger to confusion. “What?”
“No. He’s not in town. In fact your friends could have saved themselves the cost of your air-ticket, because he’s right on their doorstep. He went home for a family wedding.”
As he said this, Hutch had a terrible thought. Starsky was back east, and by now someone out there would have seen him. Callendar must have sensed what was going through he cop’s mind. “If he’s out east, he’s safe. There are powerful people keeping an eye on him. He has a protector. You know about Manetti? He worked for the man wants to keep your buddy alive, despite the fact that they operate on different sides of the law. No-one can get to Starsky as long as he’s over there.”

***************************************************************

Somehow, Hutch couldn’t believe it. Callendar had been given bail. One hundred thousand dollars, and it didn’t bother him to lose it, because Callendar never appeared for trial. He seemed to disappear into thin air. Hutch learned another lesson – when the Mob looks after its own, there’s nothing anyone else can do.

Driving up to the airport parking lot, Hutch watched as a private jet took off, headed west – some lucky guy going to Hawaii or Tahiti for a little vacation. Inside the ‘plane Callendar took a last look at LA. He didn’t see the blond cop getting out of a beaten up car and walking into the terminal for national flights.

‘all passengers for flight 204 for San Fransisco……………….

‘…passengers are reminded that…………………….’

‘………….He is wearing blue dungarees and a yellow T-shirt……………….’

The announcements seemed to blend into each other. Hutch glanced up at a clock. Ten thirty. The flight was due in a quarter of an hour. He went over to the coffee shop and ordered an expresso; until he’d met Starsky, he drank instant coffee, usually made with water from the hot-water faucet, now he’d acquired a taste for the same mud-thick black brew his partner favored.
He settled by the observation window and waited. Minutes later a plane taxied in and stopped at an off-bay position. The passengers started down the steps, and made their way to a bus waiting to ferry them the few yards to the terminal.
When the passengers arrived at the gate, Starsky wasn’t amongst them. Hutch’s heart missed a beat.
‘..officer Hutchinson please contact security…
Hutch ran to the nearest desk and asked to be put through. Dobey came on the line.
“Hutch, Starsky just called, he got an earlier flight and couldn’t raise you. He’s home already and says he’ll pick you up tomorrow at the usual time.”

Hutch returned to his car and drove home. The only thing that bothered him now was how long it would be before Starsky noticed that some of his stuff was missing.

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